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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Garrett Morgan patents the Traffic Light

On this day in 1923, Garrett Morgan patented the 3-stop traffic light, adding in a warning between stop and go.

How we're honoring this is a bit esoteric, but let's see if you can get it.

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier, translated from the German by Anthea Bell. The women in Gwen's family are time-travelers, but it skips some people, including Gwen. It's her cousin Charlotte who's been training, so imagine Gwen's surprise when she's the one yanked into the past. Follow it with Sapphire Blue.

Seeing Redd The second in the Looking Glass Wars trilogy, Alyss is back on the throne, but her aunt isn't going away quietly, and neighboring kingdoms are restless. I love Beddor's Neverland and the universe he has created-- the original trilogy (start with The Looking Glass Wars) but comic books about Hatter M's adventures, even a really awesome CD soundtrack.

Blood Red Horse by KM Grant. Will loves Ellie, but she's betrothed to his older brother. Both brothers are off to the Holy Land on crusade, but Will's horse Hosanna with almost mystical powers. The first in the de Granville trilogy, follow it with Green Jasper.

Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain. Jurmain walks us through the ravages of yellow fever and the steps and experiments the doctors went through to prove that it is, indeed, spread by mosquito. This book is more about the search for a cause, rather than the disease itself.

Yellow Line by Sylvia Olsen. Vince lives in Pacific Canada in a small town near a First Nations reservation. The two ethnic groups (White and First Nation) segregate themselves everywhere-- in living, on the school bus. One on each side of a yellow line. Vince's friend and cousin, Sherry, starts dating someone who's First Nation. Vince develops a crush on a girl who is. The parents and some of Vince's friends are (literally) violently opposed to this idea.

At Yellow Lake by Jane McLoughlin. Three teenagers have different reasons for being at Yellow Lake, but they take refuge in each other-- until they find themselves in the middle of a crime scene and the perpetrator isn't about to leave any witnesses.

Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates. When Franky's parents split up, her mother disappears. Franky would like to believe that her mother has run away, but deep down she knows it's far more sinister. And deep down, she knows who did it.

Green Angel by Alice Hoffman. Green's a talented gardener who's bitter when her family leaves her behind to go into town to sell their produce. But then the town explodes in flame and her family dies, and the ash that lingers in the air kills her garden. All alone, she must find a way to cut through the consuming grief and rebuild her life.

See what I did there? What would you add?

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